The ABS recently completed an extensive review of its CPI and has announced changes to ensure the CPI continues to meet the requirements of the Australian community. One outcome of the review is the discontinuation of the Average Retail Prices (ARP) publication. The June quarter 2011 release will be the final issue. For more details regarding this outcome and about further changes to the CPI, please refer to Information Paper: Outcome of the 16th Series Australian Consumer Price Index Review (cat. no. 6469.0), or www.abs.gov.au.

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE (QUARTER)

Release Date

March 2011

4 May 2011

June 2011

3 August 2011

IMPACT OF THE FLOODS

Flooding in Queensland began in late December 2010. It is expected that the first significant economic impact of this and floods in other states will be reflected in the March quarter 2011 release of this publication.

Price collection for the December quarter 2010 was not affected by the floods.

CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE

The component 'Eggs (1 dozen)' has been changed for the purposes of ARP, from pricing both caged and free range to pricing only free range eggs.

INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.

The average prices in this publication are presented for the purpose of making price comparisons between the capital cities for individual items.

CAUTION: The average prices for some items may not be completely comparable from city to city, nor from quarter to quarter (see the explanatory notes for more information). It is not appropriate to add together these items as no supporting information is provided on the relative importance of the items in the spending patterns of the households in each city. It is also not appropriate to compare item prices over time as the specifications and quality of items actually priced vary from period to period. Comparisons over time of prices for the range of products consumed by households are provided by the CPI.

This data cube contains average retail prices of selected items included in the Consumer Price Index for the eight capital cities. These average retail prices of selected items should be regarded as no more than approximate indicators of price levels for the items concerned as the selected grades, brands, package size, etc. for some items differ between cities and may also differ from one period to the next due to changes in product specifications. For example, potatoes may be priced as washed or brushed, loose or bagged, depending on what is most representative for a particular city.

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